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Issue 93, Volume 75
UH coach falls ill, treated
thedailycougar.com
SFAC meetings continue By Patricia Estrada THE DAILY COUGAR
Cougar News Services UH women’s basketball head coach Joe Curl was taken to a Dallas hospital Saturday evening with chest pains. Curl, who is in his 12th season at UH, missed Sunday’s 73-67 win over SMU. Fourth-year assistant Wade Scott led the team with help from fellow assistant Tari Cummings and Chad Rickett. According to a press release issued by the UH athletic department, Curl “is in stable condition and is expected to be released from doctors’ observation and return to Houston” by today. Curl missed the 2007-2008 season after suffering from a heat
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DAILY COUGAR FILE PHOTO
Women’s basketball head coach Joe Curl was admitted to a hospital Saturday for chest pain. attack. The Cougars are 13-11 overall and 7-4 in Conference USA after Sunday’s win. They’ll next face conference rival Southern Miss at 8 p.m. Thursday in Hattiesburg, Miss. before facing Central Florida at 6 p.m. Saturday in Orlando, Fla. news@thedailycougar.com
Student Publications took center stage during Friday’s Student Fee Advisory Committee meeting, where recommendations were made as to which organizations should receive a one-time allocation for funding. Student Publications asked for a one-time allocation of $100,000 in addition to its regular request of $181,124 in funding during Tuesday’s meeting. “This is a hard thing to do, but our revenue is down,” Student Publications Director Richard Cigler said Tuesday. Vice President of Student Services Elwyn Lee said Friday it was disappointing and a surprise that Student Publications had such a big shortfall. “The budgeting could have been a little bit more prudent,” Lee said. “There should have been some
course adjustments before we got to this point.” Lee said he was not happy to find out about the shortfall in funding during the SFAC meeting. Although the commitee expected the organization would need additional funding, he said it did not expect this much. “I cannot come here and be happy about finding out belatedly about the magnitude of the shortfall,” Lee said. “Flags should have been laid much higher. Adjustments should have been made.” Associate Vice President of Student Affairs Diane Murphy said she was expecting a shortfall of $85,000, but was told Student Publications could get it under $50,000. “They have really fought revenues from their advertising,” Murphy said. “Their advertising dollars have taken a shot in the foot and the nose.” Murphy also said since the budgets are not allowed to have
negatives, SFAC would have to give some money to cover Student Publications’ shortfall. Otherwise, the money would have to come from somewhere else. Lee said Student Publications is important, but that SFAC can’t be “backed up against a wall” by an organization requesting so much money. “It is too much money,” Lee said. “If you were of the mind to give them the one-time request, I would put the trust in my office that I would report back to you about how much is being used and the budget.” “They have a plan, and I’ve read it, but I would actually like to go over there and go dollar by dollar to review the budget. This is a lot of money for a one-time use.” SFAC will meet today to deliberate on all organizations’ request for funding. news@thedailycougar.com
Experts disappointed by Super Bowl ads By Alan Delon THE DAILY COUGAR Super Bowl Sunday brings a lot of excitement. Many people tune in for the game, but several others just watch the commercials. Super Bowl XLIV attracted 106.5 million viewers to CBA, beating last year’s numbers by more than 9 million, according to preliminary Nielsen TV ratings. The advertisements shown during the game have become as popular as the game itself. Many viewers tune in for the expensive commercials to see which company will outdo the other for the most memorable and entertaining commercial. “A 30-second spot during these programs is expensive, between $2.5 and $3 million for Super Bowl XLIV,” said Jacqueline Kacen, a clinical professor in the UH Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship.
With the ratings being out, multiple companies that invested in Super Bowl ads are now celebrating with the champion New Orleans Saints. Kacen said the amount of money companies spend to have an ad during the game is reasonable for the amount of people they will reach. “The $3 million for 30 seconds spent depends on what is the objective of the advertiser,” Kacen said. “One metric that media planners (and) advertisers use is cost per thousand. How much does it cost me, the advertiser, to reach a thousand people? Over a 100 million people viewed the Super Bowl, so take that $3 million cost, divide that by a bunch of people, and your cost per thousand is reasonable.” Executive professor of marketing
TRAVIS HENSLEY THE DAILY COUGAR
Split move
T
he sculpture entitled “Split Level” by Australian artist Clement Meadmore was moved from the entrance of the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management to the side of the building because of construction. It is now located near the Cougar Grounds on the side of the Hilton. The sculpture was created in 1971 and installed at the Hilton in 1974.
see ADS, page 3
University group helps students counsel children By Donnia Nassari THE DAILY COUGAR UH students have taken a new step toward helping the greater Houston community. Cougars for Kids, one of the largest outreach groups at UH, is a volunteer program sponsored by the College of Technology. Technology professor Jerry
Evans began the program two years ago to help kids at local children’s hospitals in the medical center such as Texas Children’s and the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Those participating would become mentors to the children by reading, tutoring or playing games with them and trying to make their lives more comfortable during their
stay in the hospital. After seeing a need for elementary children to be mentored, Evans decided to expand the program. Evans said with the help of the Houston Independent School District, half a dozen schools were identified so UH students could help tutor and mentor the children.
Evans said he is looking forward to increasing the outreach to more than seven other school districts this year. Evans said CFK is a vehicle to make it easier for the students to become volunteers. “We do not sign them up and take them by hand, they can handle it. (The) students have to take initiative on their own to go
and volunteer,” he said. Evans said he is trying to lead by example by going out and mentoring to children in need. For students thinking about volunteering and trying to find time, Evans said they need to commit only three hours a week. Evans said he understands that see KIDS, page 3